Il Laboratorio del Gelato Is Expanding to Ludlow Street

In a move almost as mind-blowing as the Doughnut Plant's imminent expansion, Il Laboratorio del Gelato, that other cramped dessert mecca of the Lower East Side, will open another, much bigger location this summer. La Fabricant reports that the Orchard Street storefront will beget a new space at 188 Ludlow Street, complete with actual seating and hours that extend far past the original location's 6 p.m. closing time. The space will be five times as large as the Orchard Street shop, have about 15 seats, and offer some 60 flavors. Owner Jon Snyder, who opened Il Lab in 2002, will move his production facilities away from the Orchard Street shop, which may remain open through the summer. All of which is good news to perhaps everyone except for visitors to the Tenement Museum, who will no longer be able to celebrate their completion of hour-long tours through stiflingly hot 19th-century housing with sweet, sweet sustenance.

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